St. Elijah’s (Mar Elias) Feast

The Greek Orthodox St. Elijah’s feast is celebrated on August 2nd. The feast commemorates the miracles attributed to St. Elijah.
On August 2nd, local Christians and Muslims go to St. Elijah to visit the monastic chapel. They join friends, family, and neighbors on the grounds of the monastery, and they picnic under olive trees. Some people bring gifts to the monastery such as loaves of bread, bottles of oil and candles. They light candles and leave the oil in front of the icons and they hand their loaves to the monks who in turn distribute the sanctified bread to the faithful.